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Thursday – A Big Statement

I’ve been scratching my head all day trying to work out whether I ‘love’ the Range Rover or not. One the one hand, it is pure, unadulterated luxury on a very large scale. On the other, it simply feels too large for British roads.

After being heckled in a multi-story car park, I’ve been rather more conscious of the size of the beast. And today, driving to Witney across the back roads of Oxfordshire, it seemed I was constantly having to pull left to avoid oncoming vehicles down narrow country routes.

There’s also an awful lot of car to handle on a corner. Make no mistake, this amazing Range Rover still wallows and dips on a fast bend like earlier models. It’s also so smooth that you are sometimes left braking late, a lot harder than you expected.

I’ve deliberately avoided rattling on here about the gadgets and giszmos, of which there are many and make life in a Range Rover so dizzily enjoyable. But once you have got over the thrill of a heated steering wheel, dual direction infotainment screen and electric reclining rear seats, it all comes down to how it drives.

As brilliant as the Rangey is as clambering over rough or smooth terrain in style, it’s not a vehicle you can drive enthusiastically. A luxury sofa on wheels that makes a big statement – that’s the new Range Rover.